BELLINI, Giovanni
(b. ca. 1426, Venezia, d. 1516, Venezia)

Bust of a Man

c. 1500
Black chalk, touches of wash on off-white paper, 391 x 280 mm
Christ Church Picture Gallery, Oxford

This finely drawn portrait is composed in thin delicate strokes, it displays a subtlety of execution and an expressive restraint. It contains every quality one might expect from a mature portrait study by Bellini and is the drawn equivalent of the portrait of Leonardo Loredan in London.

The sheet has occasionally been attributed to Mantegna.